Hundreds of American Airlines flight attendants, mechanics, ground service workers and staff spent a few hours of their Valentine's Day protesting their employer's recent announcement of jobs cuts, outsourcing, labor cost reductions and pension changes.

They gathered at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Tuesday afternoon and marched outside the American Airlines and American Eagle departure gate of Terminal D, where they waved protest signs.

"It's Valentine's Day and it's like, 'AA, we don't feel your love,'" said Robert Holmes, an American Airlines employee.

Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle, filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 29 of last year. As a move to cut costs, American Airlines on Feb. 1 outlined a business plan to improve profit to more than $3 billion by 2017.

American Airlines announced plans to cut approximately 13,000 employee positions, including ground service workers, mechanics, flight attendants and pilots. American Airlines also plans to reduce an average of $1.25 billion in annual costs across all of its work groups.

Roughly 1,200 employees are anticipated to lose their jobs with the closure of the Fort Worth Alliance Airport maintenance base, as the airlines plans to outsource 40 percent of its aircraft maintenance work.

Holmes, who has worked for 12 years as an American Airlines aircraft maintenance technician there, said he had planned to retire from American Airlines, but the recent announcement has him worried about his future.

"Out of all the maintenance bases, we are the highest performing one out there," Holmes said. "And there is no reason to cut us. And basically, they are sending these jobs overseas to non-FAA regulated repair stations."

Miami resident William McGill has worked for 24 years as an American Airlines fleet service clerk based in the DFW area.

"We make that decision early on in our careers when we chose a company to work with—we chose American Airlines because of the reputation, the prestige and the benefits, which is what every average American looks for is the benefits so we can retire comfortably at a reasonable age," McGill said. "And American has pretty much taken that away from everybody. So if we allow this to happen, the question is, 'What next?'"

American Airlines also plans to eliminate its employees' defined benefit pensions and has proposed to instead contribute matching payments in 401k-style pensions—a decision that requires approval from a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

By 11:35 a.m., just half an hour after the protest had begun, the crowd had grown to more than 200 employees. They chanted in unison: "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Corporate greed has got to go!" They waved signs that read: "OUR STRUGGLE IS AMERICA'S STRUGGLE."

Peggy Wilson marched with the crowd while waving a sign that read "BLAMING LABOR AGAAIN?" printed in white letters with 'AA' highlighted in red and blue to mirror American Airlines' logo. Just above the sign, Wilson identified in writing she has been with American Airlines for 32 years as a flight attendant.

"I'm upset. I'm hurting," she said. "At first, I thought the bankruptcy might be a good thing. But now after what the company put on the table, it's frightening. It's scary. I feel like I have a gun to my head and that my career is over."

Ruben Ramirez, who has worked for 14 years as an aircraft maintenance technician at Alliance, marched with the crowd. He donned an American flag top hat and held up a sign that read "UN-AMERICAN Putting 13,000 Americans Out of Work."

Ramirez, who has a 6-year-old daughter, said he was disturbed about his employer's plans to outsource his job.

"My daughter relies on me and I would like to be able to secure her a good future, and they are actually trying to take my pension as well," he said. "They need to understand that we are hard-working Americans and we want our American jobs right here in America."

Arlington resident Henry Ramirez came out to provide emotional support for his brother Ruben Ramirez and other American Airlines employees who couldn't make it to the gathering.

"I wanted to spend the morning to do this protest, because it is a good deed for a lot of people who are going to lose their jobs," he said.

Company representatives have said the measures outlined in their plan released this month were tough, but necessary choices. They will be working with union leaders who represent the various employee groups affected in the coming weeks, and hope to reach some sort of compromise.